Our biennial Producer Survey, done in partnership with Flaspöhler Research Group, is a revealing picture of independent agents’ opinions of U.S. commercial carriers. The survey of 407 independent producers consisted of 35 questions about insurer utilization, performance, perceptions of insurers and related topics. A total of 74 insurers and 19 lines of business were evaluated.
To achieve the highest level of accuracy obtainable in market research, adaptive interviewing methodologies were used in fielding this survey. Adaptive interviewing recognizes that each respondent’s experience is different, and so too should be each set of questions. Rather than put every question to every producer, only questions about issues known to be important to each producer were asked. Also, each producer was asked to evaluate only carriers with which he/she was familiar.
Importantly, adaptive interviewing removes much of the bias toward larger carriers common in most surveys and levels the playing field for smaller insurers.
The complete, 281-page report is available for purchase from Flaspöhler; contact rflaspohler@frsurveys.com.
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Agents could select up to five carriers. This is the traditional method of selecting a “best” carrier but generally is biased toward larger carriers.
For the Top 10 by Rating chart, carriers were scored on 10 evaluation and selection factors: Underwriting Process; Financia
l Security; Responsive Service; Claims Handling; Risk-Management and Loss-Control Programs; Compensation Program; Products and Coverages; Brand Reputation; Partnership; and Technology Support. Then the individual ratings for the factors were combined into a single mean.
This method is not biased toward larger carriers since it is based on ratings of the carrier by producers who have worked with that carrier.
According to the combined ratings across all important evaluation factors, the most highly rated carrier is Cincinnati Insurance Cos., which scored a 7.9 out of a possible 9.0.
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CONSIDERING COMMERCIAL CARRIERS
Considering Commercial Carriers Chart 1
Considering Commercial Carriers Chart 2
Considering Commercial Carriers Info
WORKING WITH CARRIERS
STEADY AS SHE GOES
ABOUT THE RESPONDENTS
